The first in the Raine Stockton Dog Mystery series..."An exciting, original, and suspense-laden whodunit..."(Midwest Book Review)

As a native of the small town of Hansonville, North Carolina,and a wilderness rescue worker, Raine Stockton knows the Smoky Mountains as well as anyone could, but she gave up her Search and Rescue work after a tragic loss. Now she reluctantly returns to active duty to help find a young child who has been kidnapped and taken deep into the forest. But as Raine's young golden retriever, Cisco, picks up the trail, his enthusiasm fails to make up for his lack of experience, and their first foray into the forest results in disaster...and the discover of the kidnapper - shot dead.

Suspecting there's more to the case than meets the eye, Raine struggles to overcome her personal demons, turns her search in new directions... and learns to trust Cisco to lead the way.

My Review

Raine is rudely awoken in in the early hours of the morning, they need a Search and Rescue (SAR) dog to find a missing child. The thing is, Raines beloved SAR dog Cassidy is dead, all she has is a young, unqualified and probably unsuitable youngster named Cisco. Raine doubts Ciscos ability to become a fully trained SAR dog because he has obedience issues and is unreliable, she tries to refuse but reluctantly gives in when told that she and Cisco could be the child's only hope of survival. What follows is quite an adventure, Raine finds herself becomingly involved in mystery, murder and danger.

This is, of course, a dog cozy and for dog lovers there's much to commend it, I liked that Raine is not the dog trainer she had thought herself to be. It took the arrival of a strange new neighbour, one who possessed a remarkable gift, to gently put Raine on the right track. This didn't happen overnight, the friendship with her neighbour grew slowly as Raine initially resented her advice. For a relatively short listen this story has a lot going for it, a well described and beautiful setting, interesting characters and a rather unusual relationship between Raine and Buck. It will be interesting to follow the series to see how the characters develop.

This is the first book in the Raine Stocktonseries, but I would recommend reading the stand alone book

"Silent Night: A Raine Stockton Dog Mystery" first as I feel it gives provides quite a bit of information about some of the characters, thus making reading the first in the series more enjoyable and interesting.

Narrator

The story is beautifully read by Donna Postel, if this is your first experience of Donnas work then you won't be disappointed.